1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a maltopentaose (G5) producing amylases and derivatives thereof.
2. The Prior Art
Apart from glucose (glucoamylases) and maltone (.beta.-amylases), only very few maltooligosaccharides can be obtained directly in sufficient purity by hydrolysis of starch using amylases. On hydrolysis of starch, as a rule, .alpha.-amylases produce mixtures of glucose and lower molecular weight maltooligosaccharides (G2-G9). Purification of individual components from such mixtures is elaborate and costly. However, individual .alpha.-amylases have sufficiently high product specificity to enable the industrial production of defined oligosaccharides. To date, 3 G5 forming amylases have been disclosed: